Paraguay ousts Germany on penalties in World Cup shock upset

Paraguay ended Germany’s World Cup run in a nerve-jangling shootout, winning 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The upset sent Paraguay into the Round of 16 and left Germany out in the Round of 32, with 63,945 spectators packing the venue for the tournament’s first knockout match decided by penalties.

Julio Enciso put Paraguay ahead, and Kai Havertz leveled for Germany as the match moved deep into extra time. Germany thought it had found the decisive breakthrough when Jonathan Tah headed in a go-ahead goal, but the strike was wiped out after VAR reviewed the play and judged that Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill had been fouled in the buildup.

The disallowed goal became the defining moment of a match that swung on a single officiating intervention. Instead of Germany escaping in extra time, the teams went to penalties, where Paraguay held its nerve and delivered one of the biggest shocks of the tournament. Several reports called the venue Boston Stadium, but the match was played at Gillette Stadium, and the pressure inside the ground matched the stakes of a major knockout fixture in the United States.

Orlando Gill then helped decide the result from the spot, making two key saves in the shootout. José Canale scored on the first sudden-death penalty kick, closing out a German side that has now suffered its first-ever loss in a World Cup penalty shootout. The defeat also extended a troubling run for Germany, which has not reached the last 16 since winning the World Cup in 2014.

For Paraguay, the win carried both history and immediate reward. The team advanced to the Round of 16 and was set to face either France or Sweden in Philadelphia on July 4. For Germany, the night in Foxborough will be remembered less for the goal it scored than for the one VAR took away, and for a shootout that turned a famous tournament pedigree into another early exit.